Movable guide



W. ANTONOFF Oct. 17,1961

MOVABLE GUIDE Filed D60. 26, 1958 INVENTOk; W272??? 11721072029 3,004,701 Patented Oct. 17, 1961 ice 3,004,701 MOVABLE GUIDE Walter Antonoif, loventry, R.I., assignor, by mesne assignments, t Universal Controls, Inc., New York, NY, a corporation of Maryland Filed Dec. 26, 1958, Ser. No.783,039 2 Claims. (Cl. 232-7) The present invention relates generally to coin machine; andi nfiore specclifically to apparatus of the type disc ose an 1 ustrate in assi ees Un't No- 218481158. gn 1 ed States Patent One of the difliculties which has been found to sometimes exist in connection with apparatus of the type disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,848,158 is the possibliliy of an oversized coin causing a jam when being carried by the coin rotor. More specifically, since it is necessary to provide an arcuate guide bar or'guard to prevent COlIlS from inadvertently becoming displaced from the rotor peripheral pockets during rotation of the rotor, and s1nce the fixed guide bar is preferably spaced from the rotor peripheral edge so as to afford just enough clearance to enable passage of the largest diameter coin handied by the apparatus, it follows that where a coin is slightly over size, jamming between this fixed guide bar and the rotor is likely to occur. Attempts have been made to overcome this problem by spacing the guide bar a slightly greater distance from the peripheral edge of the coin rotor, but then it has been found that there is a tendency for the smaller diameter coins to escape from their rotor pocket.

. Accordingly, a primary object of my invention is the provision of improved guide means for a coin machine of the character described wherein smaller diameter coins will be prevented from inadvertently becoming displaced from the rotor during rotation of the latter while at the same time enabling oversized coins to be carried by the rotor without likelihood of a jam occurring.

Another object of my invention is the provision of novel and improved means for mounting an arcuate guide bar in coin machines of the character described so that said guide bar is capable of radial movement with respect to the coin rotor.

A further object is the provision of a movable guide bar of the character described which is relatively simple and economically feasible to manufacture and which may be conveniently incorporated in existing machines or in new machines as they arebuilt and which will contribute materially to the overall efliciency of the coin machine by lessening the likelihood of jams occurring.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated by me for carrying out my invention:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front view of a coin machine embodying my invention with portions broken away for purposes of illustration;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front View, on an enlarged scale, of the movable guide bar assembly embodying the instant invention;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective detail, on an enlarged scale, of the guide bar per se;

FIG. 5 is a perspective detail, on an enlarged scale, of the rubber washer which forms a part of my invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective detail, on an enlarged scale, of the mounting stud which forms a part of my invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, a power-driven fare collecting and registering apparatus is shown generally at 10. The apparatus 10 comprises a housing 12 having a suitable drop inlet 14 at its upper extremity for the reception of coins C. As the coins are dropped through inlet 14, they gravitate through a conventional coin chute 16 onto an inclined base plate 18, which base plate is provided with guide means 20, 22 for directing the coins during their downward descent on plate 18. The coins are further guided by pivotally mounted feeder elements 24 and 26 which insure that the coins are properly fed to the peripheral pockets 28 of rotor 30. A thickness gauge bar is indicated at 32, while 34 is a scavenger door which may be opened by operation of handle 36 in order to scavenge spurious coins incapable of passing under gauge bar 32.

Rotor 30 is driven by any suitable means (not shown), and, viewing FIG. 1, the rotor rotates in a counterclockwise direction. Thus, after the coins are received by the peripheral pockets 2% of rotor 30, the rotor carries the coins through an arcuate, counterclockwise path past gauging finger 38 and along the inner arcuate edge of a guide bar 40, said guide bar being secured to base plate 18 in a manner hereinafter to be described. It will be understood, however, that guide bar 40 is spaced from the outer peripheral edge of rotor 30 so as to enable the largest diameter coins adapted to be handled by the machine 10 to snugly pass therealong, while at the same time preventing inadvertent displacement of smaller diameter coins from the pockets 28 during rotation of the rotor. Openings 42 provided in lower plate 44 cooperate with springs 46 mounted on said lower plate to force coins carried by rotor 30 through a plurality of gauging openings (not shown) whereby the coins are properly separated according to their diameter. A glass cover 48 overlies base plate 18 and is maintained in properly spaced relation with respect thereto by spacer 50. Spring clamps 52 and 54 extend from lower plate 44 and resiliently maintain glass cover 48 in its proper position. Element 56 represents the main switch which controls the electrical circuit for apparatus 10.

It will be understood that the foregoing is nothing more than a cursory description of the apparatus 10 and that this apparatus is described in considerable detail in United States Patent No. 2,848,158. Since, however, the apparatus as described above actually forms no part of the instant invention but rather is merely illustrative of the type apparatus with which the instant invention is of value, it is not deemed necessary not desirable to go into further detail on the apparatus in this discussion.

A feature of considerable criticality in connection with the apparatus 10, as above described, resides in the spacing of the arcuate guide bar 40 from the peripheral edge of rotor 30. This has proved troublesome since, if the guide bar is spaced too far from the rotor, then the smaller diameter coins are likely to become inadvertently displaced from the rotor pockets during rotation of the latter whereupon the guide bar 40 will fail to perform its intended function. Conversely, if the guide bar is too close to the peripheral edge of rotor 30, then jamming is likely to occur when the larger diameter coins are carried by the rotor. Unfortunately, however, it has been found that even after determination of the proper and critical spacing, there is always the possibility of an oversized coin being present. In other words, if the machine is set up to receive pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters, then the guide bar 40 will be mounted just far enough away from the peripheral edge of rotor 30 so as to enable a quarter to snugly pass thereby, it being apparent that this spacing is due to the fact that a quarter represents the largest diameter coin being handled by the apparatus. Occasionally, however, a valid twenty-five-cent piece will be somewhat over size in diameter, and it has been found that Where such a situation exists, jamming is likely to occur between the rotor 30 and guide bar 40.

In order to overcome the above discussed problem, I have mounted the arcuate guide bar 48 in a unique and novel manner wherein the guide bar is resiliently movable in a radial direction with respect to rotor 38. This is accomplished by providing a plurality of mounting holes 58 in the guide bar 40, which holes are adapted to receive mounting studs 69. As will be noted, the studs 68 are provided with an enlarged circular head 62, said head being of small diameter than that of the holes 58. The shank of each stud is adapted to extend through a suitable opening in plate 18 and is then peened over the inner surface of the latter as at 66. A rubber washer 68 is then forced into the opening 58 in surrounding relation with respect to head 62. Thus, it will be apparent that the resilience of Washer 68 enables a certain degree of relative movement between the guide bar 40 and base plate 18. Therefore, if an over-size coin is carried by rotor 30 and comes into contact with guide bar 40, the latter will be forced radially outward with respect to rotor 30 due to the presence of resilient washer 68, and hence jamming of the mechanism will be obviated.

It will be understood, of course, that washer 68 need not be constructed of rubber but that rather any equivalent resilient material will serve the same purpose. In addition, it will be noted that the head 62 of stud 60 is slightly thicker than the thickness of washer 68 and guide bar (FIG. 3), the purpose of this being to insure that there will always be some clearance between the glass cover 48 and the guide bar 40. This is important since if the cover 48 were to bear against guide bar 40, movement of the latter might be frictionally restricted thereby defeating the purpose of my invention.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except in so far as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A coin machine having an inclined base plate, a rotor mounted on said plate having a plurality of peripheral pockets, means for guiding coins along said base plate to said rotor for reception by said rotor peripheral pockets, and an arcuate guide bar mounted on said base plate substantially concentric with said rotor and spaced from the outer peripheral edge thereof, and means for resiliently mounting said guide bar for radial movement with respect to said rotor, said means comprising a plurality of studs extending through said guide bar into securement with said base plate, and a resilient washer surrounding each stud and interposed between each said stud and said guide bar, whereby an outward thrust exerted along any point of said guide bar will result in the aforesaid radial movement.

2. The coin machine of claim 1 further characterized in that said stud extends above the upper surface of said washer and guide bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 131,671 Eils Sept. 24, 1872 532,093 Pollard Jan. 8, 1895 2,848,158 Miller Aug. 19, 1958 2,872,270 DOlive Feb. 3, 1959 2,885,142 Eberhart May 5, 1959 

